Modernization theory

About: Modernization theory is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 14641 publications have been published within this topic receiving 232469 citations.

Consumption, Environmental Sustainability and Human Geography in Australia: a Missing Research Agenda?

Abstract: Consumption' is a central concept in the global environmental sustainability agenda However, one important argument from Agenda 21 — that all social actors must now practise 'sustainable consumption' — has been publicly and politically marginalised in high-income countries such as Australia Geographers potentially have a role in bringing consumption back onto the agenda by con- structing a critical geography of consumption Such research can help under- stand how the contextual use of natural resources is perceived and practised, and how consumption helps to shape contemporary social relations This body of knowledge is vital for building sustainable development into everyday lives Yet a focus on urban consumption perceptions and practices appears somewhat lack- ing in Australian geography Ways forward can be drawn from international geography, such as in the United Kingdom where a substantial body of work has drawn a complex picture of contemporary consumption and environmental understanding It has also challenged prevailing 'ecological modernisation' pol- icy approaches, which ignore consumption's cultural facets In sum, considering consumption in Australia can offer insights into cultural practices expressed through consumption; can challenge and add to European geographical litera- tures, and can also contribute to sustainability debates by offering alternatives to currently ineffective policy discourses

The Fourth Revolution: The Global Race to Reinvent the State

Abstract: In The Fourth Revolution, John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge ask: what is the state actually for? Their remarkable book describes the three great revolutions in its history, and the fourth which is happening now. In most of the states of the West, disillusion with government has become endemic. Gridlock in America; anger in much of Europe; cynicism in Britain; decreasing legitimacy everywhere. Most of us are resigned to the fact that nothing is ever going to change. But as John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge show us in this galvanizing book, this is a seriously limited view of things. In response to earlier crises in government, there have been three great revolutions, which have brought about in turn the nation-state, the liberal state and the welfare state. In each, Europe and America have set the example. We are now, they argue, in the midst of a fourth revolution in the history of the nation-state, but this time the Western way is in danger of being left behind. The Fourth Revolution brings the crisis into full view and points towards our future. The authors have enjoyed extraordinary access to influential figures and forces the world over, and the book is a global tour of the innovators. The front lines are in Chinese-oriented Asia, where experiments in state-directed capitalism and authoritarian modernization have ushered in an astonishing period of development. Other emerging nations are producing striking new ideas, from Brazil's conditional cash-transfer welfare system to India's application of mass-production techniques in hospitals. These governments have not by any means got everything right, but they have embraced the spirit of active reform and reinvention which in the past has provided so much of the West's comparative advantage. The race is not just one of efficiency, but one to see which political values will triumph in the twenty-first century: the liberal values of democracy and freedom or the authoritarian values of command and control. The centre of gravity is shifting quickly, and the stakes could not be higher.

Modernizing the Education Workforce: A Perspective from Scotland.

Abstract: This article argues that there are global pressures for modernization of the education workforce that produce broadly similar policy responses and pressures on the teaching profession. It suggests, however that these 'travelling' policies are mediated by the 'embedded' practices and cultures of different systems to produce particular 'local' versions of policy. These contribute to tension between decontextualized agendas for modernization and embedded practices and cultures. Recent policy developments in work organization, pay, professional development and career progression for the teaching profession may provide illuminating examples of the coexistence of 'travelling' UK policy and 'embedded' (Scottish) policy and may also provide evidence of growing policy divergence. Such inter-UK policy divergence is significant in itself and also helps to identify the circumstances and resources that sustain mediation of, or resistance to, 'travelling' policy in education.

Social Movements and Ecological Modernization: The Transformation of Pulp and Paper Manufacturing

Abstract: Ecological modernization theory posits that social movements play a central role in the environmental transformation of contemporary society. How they do so has received limited scholarly attention. This article seeks to reduce this thesis to a number of propositions which are then examined in light of the experience of the pulp and paper industry in the 1980s and 1990s. Drawing on field research and interviews in Southeast Asia, Australia and the United States, as well as available data, the study finds that social movements were instrumental in the environmental transformation of the pulp industry, with important differences between North and South. It concludes with a call for more nuanced studies of the influence of social movements on different sectors and countries, especially in newly industrializing countries where more tenuous and dependent forms of ecological modernization may be emerging.